Re:Lindström 2024 – reusing fashion challenge at Óbuda University

This year, we celebrate our 30th anniversary in Hungary. To mark this special occasion, we have launched a unique project for the Rejtő Sándor Faculty of Light Industry and Environmental Engineering students at Óbuda University. The Re:Lindström 2024 Reusing Fashion Challenge offers students a unique opportunity to breathe new life into discarded workwear with creative solutions while focusing on sustainability, repurposing, and reusing. 

At Lindström, every piece of workwear has its own journey. We invest in durable, high-quality materials, ensuring they can serve multiple clients over the years. Once these garments end their lifecycle within our workwear service, they are given a second life through various repurposing and recycling processes. 

With this spirit in mind, we invited light industry students to join the Re:Lindström Fashion Challenge and continue writing the story of Lindström’s retired workwear in the world of fashion and design. During this project, a wide variety of Lindström workwear is transformed into fashion pieces, including food industry workwear, freezer overalls and coats, jackets, and trousers used in industrial manufacturing companies in blue, red, and green colours, flame-resistant welding trousers, and high-visibility winter jackets. 

The project is closely linked to our circular business model, which aims to reduce the use of natural resources by reusing and the goal of recycling 100% of our textile waste by 2025. We are also constantly working to ensure that as many new textiles as possible include recycled materials.   

Balázs Piniel, the Managing Director of our Hungarian operations, emphasised the importance of this collaboration: “We are incredibly proud to partner with Óbuda University on such a unique and sustainability-focused project. The students of the Faculty of Light Industry are not just the creative talents of today but the designers of tomorrow. It is a great joy for us to work with young people whose vision and work will shape the future of sustainable fashion and design in the coming decades.” 

Dr. Habil László Koltai, Dean of the Rejtő Faculty, added: “We warmly welcome the Re:Lindström Reusing Fashion Challenge initiative. This project offers our students an excellent opportunity to complement their theoretical knowledge with practical experience while gaining valuable insights into crucial and contemporary topics such as sustainability and the circular economy.” 

Dr. Edit Csanák, DLA, Director of the Product Design Institute, highlighted: “The reuse of workwear provided by Lindström not only fosters creativity and innovation but also emphasizes the importance of applying sustainable solutions in the fields of fashion and design. We are proud that Óbuda University can actively participate in this project and that our students can contribute to shaping a sustainable future.” 

The creations will be evaluated by an expert jury consisting of professionals from the university, Lindström, and Prodem Hungary over several rounds. A qualified clothing designer from the Rejtő Faculty will ensure the artistic and aesthetic quality of the jury’s decisions. 

The Re:Lindström Reusing Fashion Challenge perfectly reflects Lindström’s commitment to sustainability while offering students the opportunity to showcase their creative and innovative solutions. The project is not only about reducing textile waste but also about building a more sustainable future.